Saturday, May 27, 2017

Marathon Sewing -- or, Will It Never End?

I know I will love this quilt when it is finished but just now it feels like I will never finish sewing the pieces together. The little 4" blocks are finished but now they are waiting to be sewn into blocks of four, with sashing.

I needed 32 more blocks to go around the edges: 128 little 4" blocks and 128 pieces of coral "sashing," plus 32 little red squares. All the pieces are cut and a few are sewn together.

The process is to stitch a coral strip to the side of each square, then to the opposite side; and to each side of a red square. Then press, pin, and sew the coral/red strips to the squares. Sew, sew, sew.

I know they will eventually be finished but it's beginning to feel like a marathon -- one that's like a treadmill with no end in sight.

Do you ever feel like you're just ready for a quilt to be done? (Or maybe I should say Done with a capital D.) Do you rush through to finish, plod on, or lay it aside for a while? If you rush through do you ever take shortcuts or make choices that are less than the best for the quilt?

I don't want to shortchange this quilt, but boy am I ever ready to start something new!

8 comments:

When I get bored with a project I have to have a break! I usually put it away, but I often regret that! If I can do another project simultaneously that can help with the boredom factor, I love leaders and enders.

I hesitate to put in-progress blocks/quilts away because they become just another ufo (of which I already have too many!). Like you, I regret doing it. It's taking a lot of self control not to start another quilt right now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences, ES.

P.S. Did you know you are a "no reply" blogger and when I click your name I can't learn your email or even whether you have a blog. But maybe that's the way you want it?

If it's becoming a chore and you have no deadline, give yourself a break for a while, but not so long that you forget what you're doing. LOL. This is one reason I make scrap quilts. I can't bear to do the same thing in the same color over and over. Maybe a leader-ender project would help, to.

Hi, Susan. Sometimes when I put things away and pull them out again, it's almost like starting from scratch to figure out what layout I had in mind, or how I was stitching. I pushed through to finish sewing these blocks together and I'm glad I did (even though it took all of my self-control not to start another quilt!).

I'm with you about making the same blocks with the same fabrics dozens of times. I just can't do it. I get too bored and just have to switch up the fabrics or the colors.

I do tend to put things like that aside, if there is no deadline. And I do sometimes loose them in the UFO closet for years on end. I have altered the design to make the process less painful on occasion, but not often.

Hi, Janet. I put things aside when I can't figure out what to do next, as in a design challenge, but I try to finish blocks because I'm afraid I'll never get back to the quilt or, if I do, I'll forget what I was doing and what I had in mind. I'm just pleased I didn't start another quilt before finishing sewing these blocks!

Yes, Allison, and that's the challenge for me: I never know if I'll like a finished quilt until it's finished! Or at least until it's a quilt top. If there's a "design" problem/uncertainty, I usually stop until I can figure out what should come next.

Hello, Friend,

Welcome to my little blog. I'm pleased you stopped by for a visit. I hope you'll take a few minutes to look around. I blog mostly about quilts but you'll find posts about other creative endeavors, books, quotes, an occasional video, etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you've been here and I'll try to visit your blog, too. Come back soon!--Nancy.